Joyce 'confident not cocky' in New England

Deputy Prime Minsiter Barnaby Joyce says he is "confident but not cocky" of fending off a challenge in his seat of New England from former MP Tony Windsor.

Mr Windsor, who helped Labor form government in 2010, is hoping to win back his old seat from Mr Joyce, who will need to juggle his own bid for re-election on the so-called "wombat trail" with his responsibilities as deputy prime minister.

"I think that people would expect that if you were offered the responsibility of being the deputy prime minister of Australia, that you accept it and work as hard as you possibly can towards it," Mr Joyce said at a chemical company north of Brisbane on Tuesday.